Vance Cooper, the Next Master Thief
by NeoStarBreaker
Summary: Vance Cooper, the son of Sly Cooper and Carmelita Fox, aspires to one day become a master thief like his father. However, when a mysterious group starts taking out thieves from around the world, he'll have to put a stop to them before he becomes their next target. With his friends and family legacy by his side, can he pull off the impossible and become the next master thief?
1. Prologue: The Next Master Thief, Part 1

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Sly Cooper or the cannon characters, but I do own this story and OCs. Please support the original games.**_

 _ **Hello, everyone! This is NeoStarBreaker, or Neo for short, saying welcome to my first story! I had a hard time deciding what story to write first, but after I got back into playing some old Sly Cooper games, I got my thieving on and decided that my first story should be a Sly Cooper based one! However, this story is gonna contain a lot of OCs, and possibly some old cannon characters, and that's because this story is about the next master thief, which is Sly's son!**_

 _ **Vance Cooper is his name. I had a hard time figuring out the name, but for some reason, this one just sounded good to me, so I figured, why not? He's also the son of Carmelita Fox. Let's face it, guys... We kinda expect those two to end up together someday. XD**_

 _ **With that said, before I reveal anymore information, why don't we get started? Let's do that! Here it is, everyone...! The first installment of the adventure of a new up and coming master criminal! Part one of the prologue of... Vance Cooper, the Next Master Thief! Enjoy! :D**_

* * *

 _ **-Paris, France, Night Time-**_

It was a cold and beautiful night in Paris. There were some clouds in the night sky under the full moon, and everyone, whether on the streets, or in the buildings, were happily minding their own business. Well, maybe not all happy, especially the ones in the back alleyways. Either way, the night seemed calm and peaceful.

However, there was only one stranger on the move in a hurry. This strange shadowy figure was seen running across the rooftops, jumping from one to another and ran along the edges. The full moon showed that the figure was holding a strange hook-like can and had a bushy tail. When the figure made one big leap in the air to reach the next building, the appearance was made clear. The figure turned out to be an anthromorphic humanoid raccoon!

Although, unlike most raccoons, who're mainly a shade of grey, this one had a strange orange brown color instead, but retained the normal black linings around the tail. He was wearing a red shirt with a yellow collar, a small red hat on his head with a black line around its base, a yellow belt with a strange raccon logo buckle in bright red, black gloves with red lining around the wrists, a black backpack on his back, and all black shoes that covered the entire bottom half of his legs.

Upon landing on the other building, the raccon sprinted and used his strange cane to break some rooftop pipes in front of him before standing right on the corner ledge. What he was spying on with his light brown eyes with a black mask around them was a three story musuem that looked brand new in what appeared to be a new park for Paris. With a smirk, the raccoon got on one knee and took out a pair of red high-tech binoculars from his backpack and looked through them, catching close glimpses of the park and spotting guards around the museum. But while he did that, he heard a feminine voice coming through his binoculars.

"Vance... Do you read me Vance?" asked as the voice.

"Yeah, Nicole... I read you loud and clear." replied the raccoon named Vance.

"Oh thank goodness." the one called Nicole said in response, sounding relieved. "The communicator works perfectly then. Now we can communicate through your binocucom. Not only that, but I can also see whatever you're seeing through them, thanks to my new installed computer equipment in the van."

"That's really great to hear, Nicole, but I kinda need you to get to the point of helping me out here if you don't mind." Vance replied, trying not to sound pushy though.

"Fine, mister impatient!" Nicole exclaimed through the binocucom, sounding a bit annoyed. "Let me tell you what I'm seeing here."

* * *

 _ **-An Unknown Van, Paris, France, Night Time-**_

Somewhere not too far from where Vance was, hiding out nearby the eiffel tower, surrounded by bushes, a light blue van was seen with fiery markings near the front sides and had the same raccoon logo on Vance's belt on the sides and front bumper on it. Coming from inside the back of the van, Nicole's voice was heard.

Inside, it seemed rather clean in the back, despite having about six computer monitors installed on one of the walls, along with a desk and a keyboard. At the computers, sitting in a bolted down black leather chair, the kind that one can spin in, an anthromorphic humanoid mouse was seen looking through the monitors, which're showing the park and museum Vance was looking at through his binocucom.

She appeared to be a white fur mouse, a very clean one to be precise, and wore a light purple sweater with the same raccoon logo stitched on the back. She also had silver watch around her left wrist, a silver chained necklace with a red heart pendant around her neck, and had blue eyes. Her white fur around her head almost looked like she had short hair with bangs around her forehead, and she had a headset on her as well, which she was using to communicate to Vance.

"Okay, Vance, from what I'm seeing here, I gotta be honest with you..." she said as she shook her head. "It's next to impossible to get close to that museum by ground. There are guards spread out everywhere."

"Guess they really wanna keep the stuff inside safe." Vance replied, spotting guards for Nicole. "Can't blame them either. A new museum in a new park sounds like a good place for a thief to hit upon."

"You're not still seriously thinking about this, are you?" Nicole asked, sounding and looked a bit worried now.

"Of course I am." Vance replied. "This is my one chance to really make myself known to the world. Many people are expecting to see this great thousand year old ruby, which is suppose to be still intacted and shining. If I can steal that and leave my family's famous Cooper marking, then they'll all know who I am."

"You do realize that'll also bring us a lot of trouble in the future, right?" Nicole replied, still sounding worried about what Vance was gonna do.

"Nothing that we can't handle." Vance replied, sounding calm and confident about what the future'll bring. "Anyway, are you gonna help me out here or not?"

With a sigh of defeat, Nicole shook her head and got serious. "All right... If you're serious about this, then I'll do what I can." she replied, and though she couldn't see it, Vance smiled. "Now, like I said, it's too dangerous to go by ground. You're best bet here is to go in from above. The tall trees in the park should help you out with that. Make your way toward the museum, while I hack in to their security system."

"And don't forget about me, Vance!" shouted another voice in the van with Nicole, sounding male and was coming from the driver seat. "Once you get your hands on that ruby, send me the signal, and I'll pick you up at the rendezvous in the Cooper Van!"

"Roger that, Barron." Vance replied to the one called Barron, while Nicole shook her head and sighed once more.

"Whatever you do, Vance, just don't get caught." she stated. "The last thing I need is to be stuck with Barron without you."

"I heard that, Nicole!" Barron shouted in response to Nicole. "That was very mean, you know!?"

"Oh like you never said anything about me!" Nicole exclaimed back towards Barron with an annoyed expression. "Would you wanna be stuck alone with a girl like me!? The one who's also giving you a hard time!? That's what you said before, right?"

"...I don't know what you're talking about." Barron replied, sounding like he was defeated though, making Nicole smirk victoriously.

* * *

 _ **-Near the Museum, Paris, France, Night Time-**_

After hearing that small argument between Nicole and Barron, Vance smiled and shook his head as he put away his binocucon and stood up straight.

"Those two never change." he said as he gazed down at the back alleyway below and took a deep breath. "Okay... Here I go."

He took a few steps back before sprinting towards the corner ledge and jumped off, heading three stories down, but as he did, he flipped in the air and landed smoothly on top of a red car. When he did, he quickly jumped off and ran towards the wall of the next building, hiding in the shadows as he slowly made his way to the corner. Upon reaching the corner, he stuck his head out a bit and looked both aways across the street, seeing no people anywhere, meaning that it was clear.

Once he knew that, he quickly ran to the other side and rolled on the ground once he was close to the park fences. He hid under the little brick wall that the fence was on and slowly moved as a guard with a flashlight passed him on the other side. Vance took a moment to peak up and watched as the guard went further away from him, but he noticed the other guards not too far from him. When he did, he pondered on what was he gonna do next.

"Hmm... How am I gonna get inside the park first?" he asked himself as he looked around, but then noticed the park entrance, which was closed, ahead of him and spoted some odd red lights around the sides of the gate, which surprised him. "Huh...? It's those weird lights Uncle Bentley told me about. What did they mean again?"

He thought back on what his so called Uncle told him before realizing what those strange red lights meant. "Oh now I remember..." he said. "It's something that we Coopers can see when there's a thieving opportunity to be made. Something like that. Either way, I found my way in."

With a smirk, Vance made his way toward the sides of the park gate, and once he was in the clear, he used he jumped up and grabbed hold of one of the sides. He held his cane in his mouth as he made his way up, and when he did, he jumped off and managed to land on a thick tree branch nearby. When he did, he did exactly what Nicole instructed and jumped from one thick branch to another, using them to make his way to the museum without being seen.

"Worked like a charm." he said as he landed on one more thick branch, now near the museum as he pulled out his binocucom again and looked through them. "Okay, Nicole, I'm close to the museum. What next?"

"Well, fortunately for you I was able to hack into the museum's security system." Nicole stated through the binocucom. "It was no problem, and now I can see everything inside through the security cameras. With my hacking skills, I can hide you from them with ease."

"Great to hear." Vance replied with a smile. "Now do you see a way for me to get in undetected?"

"Yes." Nicole answered as Vance zoomed his binocucom on a nearby window. "There's a window on the second floor near your location, which has an electric lock on it. However, thanks to me hacking into the security system, I was able to unlock it for you."

"Thanks, Nicole." Vance thanked as he spoted some poles with hanging lights on metal ropes to hold them up and to light to area, noticing the same red lights from earlier on the metal wires. "And I think I just found a way for me to get to it."

"Ah... You gonna use a move from your Dad's book?" Nicole asked curiously.

"That's right." Vance replied. "The Rail Walk. Made by my outlaw of the west ancestor; Tennessee Kid Cooper. I love doing it."

"Well have at it, Vance." Nicole replied as Vance put his binocucom away.

Knowing what he was gonna do next, he jumped off the thick tree branch, flipped in the air like before, and landed perfectly along the metal wires above the security guards. With a smirk, Vance made his way across the metal wires until he was near the second floor window. Once he was close to it, Nicole, using her hacking skills, opened it up for him as he jumped up and went through it, heading into the museum.

* * *

 _ **-The Muesum, Paris, France, Night Time-**_

 ** _-SECOND FLOOR-  
_**

Upon entering the museum, Vance slowly made his way down the hallway he was in and came across an indoor balcony. Below it, there were flashlight guards patrolling the first floor entrance. Vance did notice that there was another metal rope attached from one balcony to the other across the way, but it was too thin to try his Rail Walk on like earlier.

"Hmm... This could be a problem." he said as he took out his binocucom again and looked through them, showing Nicole the guards on the first floor. "Nicole, I made it in, but now what? How am I gonna get across without being seen?"

"You're asking me that?" Nicole replied. "You're the thief here. I'm sure you'll figure something out. You're a Cooper, right?"

"True..." Vance replied as he looked around for a way to cross to the other indoor balcony, but then he noticed more red lights around the sharp points of the lights attached along the thin metal rope, and when he did, he smiled. "Hey... Looks like I did find a way, and a really good one too. You remember that other cool move I learned from my Dad's book?"

"How can I forget?" Nicole replied, sort of annoyed by the memory of the move Vance was talking about. "You went on about it for days after learning it. It was called the Ninja Spire Jump, right?"

"That's right." Vance answered. "Made by my japanese ancestor; Rioichi Cooper. My Dad told me that it's considered one of the Cooper Clan's greatest thieving moves of all time. So he says."

"Just do it before you go on about it again like you did back then." Nicole stated, still slightly annoyed.

"Okay... Okay... I'm on it." Vance replied as he put away his binocucom and stepped up on the ledge of the indoor balcony.

Then, when a jump and flip in the air, he landed safely upon the sharp tip of the first light. When he did, he did the same thing and landed on the second one. He continued this about two more times until he finally reached the other indoor balcony and smirked. "Peace of cake."

Once he was on the other side, he made his way down the hallway, though he spoted some of the security camers above him along the way, but thanks to Nicole, he wasn't worried about them. About a minute later, he reached an elevator and took out his binocucom again to show Nicole.

"So... I'm gonna assume the elevator isn't working tonight?" he asked.

"I'm afraid so, Vance, and there's nothing I can do about that." Nicole replied as Vance moved his binocucom toward a nearby window. "However, you should be able to make your way up to the third floor by going out that window and climbing up. With your climbing skills, that shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

"Not a problem at all." Vance replied as he put his binocucom away and made his way to the window, which, thanks to Nicole, opened up for him.

He peaked outside and spoted a pole on his right, and when he did, he smiled as he stood on the ledge of the window and used his cane to grab hold of the pipe and pulled him towards it, grabbing it with his free hand once he was close to it. He held on tight so he wouldn't fall as he put his cane in his mouth and made his way up it, all the way to the third floor window, and thanks to Nicole, it opened up for him and he quickly latched off the pipe and jumped back inside the museum.

 _ **-THIRD FLOOR-**_

Once he was back inside, Vance looked down the hallway in front of him and noticed a flashlight guard with his back turned to him ahead. He was a bit hesitant to go down the hall, so he took out his binocucom again and zoomed in the guard.

"Okay, Nicole, I'm on the third floor, but I got a problem." he stated upon zooming out of the guard ahead. "There's a pig with a flashlight in front of me. Any ideas how I can get rid of him?"

"I'm afraid you're gonna have to knock him out, Vance." Nicole stated, which didn't sound all too good to Vance. "I know you're not a big fan of hurting those who haven't hurt anyone, but if you wanna get to that ruby on the other side of building, you gotta take out that guard. It's the only way, I think."

"Yeah... I guess you're right." Vance replied, taking a deep breath. "I know what to do."

After putting his binocucom away, he slowly made his towards the guard, approaching him quietly so he wouldn't turn around and spot him. Once Vance was close enough to him, he thrusted his cane upward and sent the guard up in the air by surprise, then he latched on to the belt of the guard's uniform, turned, and slammed him down hard on the floor.

The impact was enough to knock the guard out, making him see stars around his now goofy smile. Once the guard was knocked out, Vance spotted a janitors closet nearby, giving him an idea. He dragged the knocked out guard towards it and opened the door, stuffing him inside and quietly closed the door with a smile.

"Nighty night." he said closed the door before resuming heading down the hallway.

About a minute later, he reached another indoor balcony, but was wider than the one on the second floor. He looked down and spotted those same first floor guards and the other balcony he crossed earlier below. When he did, he looked around to see if there was any way for him to cross, or anything with red lights around it, but spotted nothing, making him worry as he took out his binocucom again to show Nicole.

"Um... Nicole... I got a bit of a problem here." he stated, showing the other wide indoor balcony on the other side, but nothing to help get to it. "I don't see anything for me to cross to get to the other side."

"Well that is a bit of a problem." Nicole replied, thinking of way for Vance to get across until she came up with something. "Oh...! I know... Why don't you..."

"Why don't you try out that new hook and chain customization to your cane, Vance!" Barron shouted through the binocucom for Vance to hear. "You always said you wanted to try it out, so why not now!?"

"Barron, you knew I was gonna say the same thing to him!" Nicole shouted to Barron. "You just had to go and say it first, didn't you!?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to help out in any other way here!" Barron replied to Nicole. "I'm almost out of potato chips, and I'm getting kinda bored just waiting here!"

"Good grief, Barron..." Nicole replied, rolling her eyes, while Vance tried not to laugh at them. "Anyway, Vance, try out that hook and chain you had me apply to your cane. Maybe that'll help you get across."

"Only one way to find out." Vance replied with a smile. "Thanks, Nicole. You too, Barron."

"Anytime, pal!" Barron shouted in welcome before Vance put his binocucom away.

Looking at his cane for a moment, he turned the hook part of it and it just came off, revealing that it's connected to a small chain that's inside the cane itself. With a smirk, Vance looked up and saw a pipe. When he did, he swung his hook and chain a few times before throwing it up at it, latching the hook on the pipe and he pulled on the chain to make sure it was tight on there.

Once it was secured, he took a few steps back before sprinting forward and jumped over the indoor balcony, heading down for a moment before the small chain was at it's length and he was swung across to the other side, landing his feet on the ledge of the other balcony. Upon landing, he squeezed the bottom of the can, making the hook suddenly detached off the pipe and the small chain brought it back all the way to Vance, which he immediately re-attached the hook to the cane and smiled.

"It worked perfectly." he stated as he made his way down the hallway on his left.

However, as he made his down the hall, he stopped and was surprised when he noticed some spotlights and lasers ahead in front of a door. By the looks of it, it was too tight for him to get through, so he took out his binocucom again to show Nicole.

"Nicole, I thought you said you hacked into the security system." he stated as he zoomed in on the lasers and spotlights. "What's going on here?"

"Sorry, Vance, but I wasn't able to get the entire security system under my control, but don't worry about this." Nicole replied as Vance looked at a nearby window that Nicole opened up for him. "I already found a way for you to cross into the room ahead. Go out onto the ledge of the window and do your little sneak across."

"Oh I see what you're saying." Vance replied, a smile returned to his face. "Thanks, Nicole."

"What would you do without me?" Nicole asked with a smirk as Vance put his binocucom away again and headed out the window.

Once outside, he saw more red lights along the small ledge of the third floor. Using his skills, he slowly did a stealth walk with his back against the building and made his way across, not wanting to look down though. After making it across, he was a bit surprised when the window suddenly opened up for him, but before thinking more about it, he went inside.

"That...was odd." he said, finding the window that oppened for him strange. "Did Nicole do that? She probably did."

Looking around the room, Vance spotted a vault ahead of him, which made him smile as he slowly walked towards it. "That's gotta be it." he said as he neared it and got on one knee, taking out a walkie-talkie from his backpack, turned it on, and talked through it. "Nicole, I'm at the vault. Did you find out the code to access it?"

"Of course..." Nicole replied through the walkie-talkie, seeing Vance at the vault through the security cameras. "It wasn't that hard to figure out once I accessed the museum's files. Try dialing in... seven-one-six-four-four-nine-eight-one-six."

"Wow... That's a long code." Vance replied as he used the code Nicole provided him, pressing the buttons on the vault in the order she told him.

Though, as he slowly entered the code, he stopped once he was halfway through to look over his shoulder, getting this strange feeling, but saw nothing. However, this only made him more suspicious that something seemed off in the room he was in, almost like he was being watched, and not just by Nicole through the security cameras. "Hey, Nicole... Was that you that opened that window to get in earlier?" he asked through the walkie-talkie.

"Um... No." Nicole replied, surprising Vance a little. "I was gonna, but it turned out that window was already unlocked. It must have been a technical difficulty in that electrical lock. Either way, get that ruby and get out of there fast, Vance."

"I'm on it." Vance replied as he continued pressing in the rest of the code to the vault. "Almost... There."

After pressing in the code, he stood up and stepped back to allow the vault to open up, but when it did, Vance's eyes widen in shock when he saw nothing was inside it. "Huh...? What the...? There's nothing?" he asked as he quickly spoke through the walkie-talkie again. "Hey, Nicole, I thought you said the ruby was suppose in the vault on the third floor. The vault's open, but there's no ruby. What gives?"

"What?" Nicole replied, surprised to hear that. "T-That's not right. It's suppose to be there. It says so on the museum's data files."

"Well I don't see anything." Vance stated, unaware that something came down from the ceiling near the door behind him.

"...Is this what you're looking for, mister Cooper?" said a strange deep male voice coming from behind Vance, surprising him as he turned around and was shocked when he saw an anthromorphic buzzard with dark brown feathers with white ones on his stomach and under his wings.

He also had a sharp yellow beak with black on the tip, and yellow feet with black sharp talons, which he used his right one to hold up a sparkling ruby the size of Vance's hand in it and smirked. His complexion revealed that he was middle aged, and he had dark grey eyes. Lastly, he had a pure black unzipped vest on with a black belt underneath with three sharp looking knives on both sides.

"The... The ruby!" Vance exclaimed in surprise when he saw it in the mysterious buzzard's talons.

* * *

 _ **-The Cooper Van, Paris, France, Night Time-**_

Back at the Cooper Van, Nicole was shocked when she saw the mysterious buzzard come down on camera in front of Vance. For some reason, the cameras never detected his presence anywhere, and when he showed himself, she almost fell out of her chair.

"W-What the...?" she said, still in shock by this. "Who is that!?"

"Who's what...!? Is something wrong with Vance!?" Barron asked from the driver seat, but decided to unbuckle his belt and make his way over to the back of the van to see what Nicole was seeing. "Let me see!"

As he made his way over the front seats, Barron revealed himself, showing that he was really a big anthromorphic bear with dark brown fur all over. He wore a black tank top underneath a dark grey unzipped short sleeved jacket with the same raccoon logo in red sown in on the back, and black combat boots with white laces on his feet. He also had a gold chain necklace around his neck, and a dark yellow wrist bands near his sharp black claw fingers.

When he got to the back of the van, he made his way over to Nicole's right side and his brown eyes widen in shock when he saw the strange buzzard in front of Vance on the monitor. "Oh my gosh...!" he exclaimed, taken a back a bit by this. "Who the heck is that with Vance!?"

"I don't know..." Nicole replied, shaking her head as she zoomed in on the mysterious buzzard, seeing his smirk closely. "But, I don't like that smirk he has. Nor do I like the look in his eyes."

Just by looking at this guy, Nicole and Barron were a little freaked out. They had no idea who this guy was, and Vance was alone with him. Whoever he was, something tells them that this heist just got a lot more complicated.

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED...**_

* * *

 _ **Well... This just got interesting. Who's that strange buzzard that appeared out of nowhere? What's gonna happen next now that Vance's plans to steal the ruby have been ruined? Stay tune to find out next time! ;D**_

 _ **I hope you guys liked the first part of the prologue. I was gonna add a little more to it before starting the second one, but I got a little close to my word count limit I made for myself, so I figured I'd save it for next time. Either way, things are gonna get more intense from here. Sorry if there wasn't much action here, but that'll come around in the second part, along with some revealing details of Vance's friends Nicole and Barron.**_

 _ **And here's a fun fact...! The cane that Vance uses is like the one Sly has, but this one has been customized to have the hook and chain to it. Every Cooper has to have something special on them, so since it was hard for me to beat the Laser Slide from Sly's father, this one sounded good to me. I wanna thank a friend of mine for giving me the idea for the cane. :)**_

 _ **One more fun fact... Vance, being a different colored raccoon and all, sees red lights instead of blue. I figured it sounded okay, since Bentley and Murray had lights in their respective colors in the other Sly Cooper games. XD**_

 _ **Now that I've got all that said and out of my system, stick around to find out what happens next time! Until then, I'll be seeing you all very soon. ;)**_


	2. Prologue: The Next Master Thief, Part 2

_**DISCLAIMER:**_ _ **I do not own the rights to Sly Cooper or the cannon characters, but I do own this story and OCs. Please support the original games.**_

 _ **Hey, everyone! It's me, Neo, saying welcome back! I bet some of you were wondering what was gonna happen next now that Vance has encountered a strange buzzard that has gotten the ruby before him. Whether you wanted to know or not, it doesn't matter now, doesn't it? ;)  
**_

 _ **Before I begin, I just wanna thank some of you for taking the time to view the first part of the prologue. It wasn't much, but it still makes me smile knowing there are some of you that checked out my work. Also, if some of you didn't know, there's a Sly Cooper movie coming out soon! I was a little late to know this, but oh well. Better late than never, right? I haven't learned about until just this month! Don't any of you say it... I was late to the party. XD**_

 _ **Okay, now that I've got all that said, let's get on with the second part of the prologue! What'll happen now that Vance faces against this strange buzzard? There's only one way to find out! Read on and enjoy, everyone! :D**_

* * *

 _ **-The Museum, Paris, France, Night Time-**_

 _ **-THIRD FLOOR-**_

After all that hard work to get to the vault, Vance Cooper gazed in shock at the strange buzzard, who held the thousand year old ruby in his talons and smirked and chuckled. The odd colored raccoon couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about this strange bird he didn't like just by the look in his eyes. Either way, the one thing he can't shake off his mind was... How'd he get to the ruby first?

"The ruby!" Vance exclaimed when he saw the ruby in the buzzard's talons.

"Isn't it marvelous?" the middle aged buzzard asked as he held the ruby up a bit higher, inspecting it closely. "Something so old, yet it still gives out such an amazing shine. Truly a sign that it's been well taken care of over the years. Quite breath taking, is it not?"

"Who are you!?" Vance asked, not really in the mood to admire the ruby that HE was suppose to steal as he pointed at the mysterious bird man. "And how did you get pass security before I did?"

"Well, mister Cooper, if you really want to know that much..." the buzzard replied as he turned his gaze from the ruby back at Vance. "My name is Pryce, and as to how I got in here... Well..."

With a wide smirk, the buzzard named Pryce extended his right wing for an arm out and pointed it at the window Vance came in through earlier. "I flew in through the window." he stated, which surprised Vance as he remembered that window just opening for him without Nicole opening it.

"I knew there was something odd about that window opening earlier." Vance stated as he looked back from the window to Pryce. "That was you who opened it. By the way, flying in here while I get in the hard way... You cheated."

"Well, to be fair, mister Cooper, we are thieves." Pryce replied as he smirked back at Vance.

"...Okay, I'll give you that one." Vance replied, knowing that a thief will do about anything to get they want, but then he got serious and pointed his cane at Pryce. "Either way, hand over that ruby before I knock off all your feathers, old man."

"Heheheh... That's some tough talk coming from an oddly colored raccoon like yourself." Pryce chuckled, finding Vance's tough guy act amusing. "I won't even ask how you're like that. Mainly because... I already know. Still, if you want this ruby so badly, then you're just gonna have to pry it out of my talons."

"That can be arranged." Vance stated in response as he suddenly dashed at Pryce and jumped in the air, brining his cane down on him for a quick strike. "Haaa!"

However, when he brought his cane down on Pryce, the middle aged buzzard brought both his wings together and actually caught Vance's attack just before it could touch his head. When he did, Vance was surprised by this as Pryce just chuckled again, finding this amusing. "Heheheh... Swining your little stick at me now?" he asked, looking up at Vance. "My my... You young thieves never learn. Don't you know, boy, that you should respect your elders!"

With little effort, Pryce pushed Vance back, but he managed to land back on his feet on the floor and quickly took a fighting stance with his cane held tight in his right hand. However, once Pryce had Vance off him, he spread out his long wings and flapped them, sending a gust of wind at Vance that was strong enough to make him grab the floor to not get blown away. While Vance did that, Pryce took this chance to run for and fly out the window, not letting the glass open up for him as he just smashed through it, which set off the museum alarm.

"Hahahaha...! See you around, Cooper!" Pryce shouted as he flapped his wings and flew above the park, while Vance, after enduring the suddeny gust of wind, ran over to the broken window and looked in shock at Pryce.

But, determined not to let the middle aged buzzard get away with beating him, Vance got serious and jumped out the window, ignoring the alarms and landed on top of the nearby park trees, using his Rail Walk move to run on the little branches and chase after Pryce. "Stop! Come back here!"

* * *

 _ **-Paris, France, Night Time-**_

Making his way out of the park, Vance landed on a nearby building and continued his chase after Pryce, who was soaring in the air, chuckling to himself. However, Vance was right on his tail below him, using his Rail Walk and Ninja Spire Jump to make it to the other buildings that were too far for him to jump to.

"Heheheh..." Pryce chuckled with a smirk, but then he looked down and noticed Vance was after him, but he only find this amusing. "Trying to catch me, are you? Don't bother, boy... You'll never catch me."

"We'll just see about that!" Vance exclaimed as he jumped up on a rooftop entrance and jumped higher and swung his cane at Pryce.

However, the buzzard noticed this and dodged it at the right moment and laughed as Vance landed on the next building rooftop, but he continued his pursuit. As he ran for another minute, Vance Railed Walk up to a taller building and when he did he jumped off and tried to hit Pryce, but again the buzzard dodged it no problem and laughed. Then, as Vance was falling, he detached the hook on his cane and tossed it to a nearby building pipe, it grabbing it and then he squeezed the bottom of his cane, making the small chain attached to the hook pull him until he was on the building rooftop.

"Nahahahahah...! Just give it up, Cooper!" Pryce exclaimed mockingly as he circled above Vance before flying off again. "Swinging your little stick around won't work! If that's all you got to offer, then I'll just take my leave!"

"Not so fast!" Vance exclaimed back as he jumped up to another rooftop entrance and jumped high in the air again, this time swinging his cane with the hook and small chain out and sent it towards Pryce. "You're not getting away that easily!"

As Pryce laughed to himself, he didn't expect the hook of Vance's cane to catch him by his foot, which surprised him as Vance pulled his cane back, making Pryce come back towards him. "Ah!" the buzzard shouted as Vance swung his cane around, which swung Pryce around, and the hook on his foot came off and Pryce was sent flying in another direction. "AAAAHH!"

Once Pryce was sent flying, Vance made haste and ran after him once more, heading in the same direction he sent the strange buzzard in.

* * *

Pryce kept screaming until he hit his back on a buildboard on a four story building, and when he did, the ruby he held in his talon fell off. Fortunately it didn't break when it hit the rooftop, but it did slide around until it was caught by some wires, stopping it from rolling around. Then, once Pryce landed on his feet, trying to shake off the pain, Vance jumped up out of nowhere and landed on the same building rooftop, glaring at the buzzard.

"G-Gah..." Pryce grunted as he stood up straight and glared back at Vance, but then smirked. "Well... I surely wasn't expecting that. I didn't think your cane was able to do that. Although, if it could, I'm gonna assume that's not the actual Cooper family cane, is it?"

"You're right about that." Vance replied as he held his cane in front of him. "This cane may look it, but it's not my family cane. It's specially made just for me. Although, I'm confused about something here. How do you know about my cane? More importantly, how do you knwo me and my family?"

"I've done my research." Pryce stated. "That's right... I know all about your little cane, and your little family, and if you want my opinion, you Cooper are quite the annoying bunch."

"I take it you have something against my family." Vance stated, crossing his arms.

"Not really, but I know how you Coopers are, and you irritate a lot of people." Pryce replied. "There are some that can't stand you Coopers, so... Perhaps this'll be a perfectly good opportunity."

"A perfectly good opportunity for what?" Vance asked, uncrossing his arms as Pryce smirk widen.

"What do you think, Cooper?" Pryce asked as he expanded his wings out, getting into a fighting stance. "If I take you out here, that'll be one less raccoon in the world. I'll be doing a lot of good thieves a favor, and others too. Besides, I'm curious if you Coopers are as good at fighting as you are at stealing."

"I see... All right then." Vance replied with a smirk of his own as he readied his cane and got into his own fighting stance. "Okay, old man, I accept your little challenge, but if I beat you, you gotta give me that ruby. Deal?"

"Of course, but do take note, Cooper..." Pryce replied. "I may be old, but I have plenty of experience in fighting. I'll warn you that you shouldn't take me lightly."

"I never said I was gonna." Vance replied as Pryce got serious and suddenly ran towards the oddly colored raccoon, spinning and swung his wings at him.

They came at Vance pretty quickly too as he moved back to avoid being hit. However, Vance found himself close to the edge of the rooftop and still Pryce came at him, swinging his wings. Thinking quickly, Vance rolled to the side at the right moment, dodging a strike from the buzzard while keeping right on the edge. Then, he came at Pryce and swung his cane horizontally at him, but Pryce flew up and narrowly avoided being touched.

With a menacingly chuckle, he flapped his wings and sent a strong gust of wind down at Vance, almost blowing the odd colored raccoon away, but he used his cane, grabbing a nearby pipe to hold on. However, Pryce swooped down and knocked Vance away with his wing, making him roll across the rooftop, but he managed to get up only to see the buzzard come at him again, but this time with his sharp talons. Quickly reacting, Vance moved back as Pryce threw his talons over and over at him, but Vance used his dodged and used his cane to intercept some of the strikes. Then, once Vance had an opening, he took a chance and swung his cane at Pryce, but the buzzard flew back just in time and avoided the hit, landing on the nearby rooftop entrance and smirked down at Vance, who glared back up at him.

"Heheheh... I'll admit, Cooper... You're quick on your feet." Pryce stated, finding their fight a bit amusing, and so did Vance a little as he smirked too.

"And you're much faster than look, old man." Vance replied, but then he looked confused again. "Though, there's something I can't get off my mind. Shouldn't a guy at your age be retired or something from the thieving business?"

"I'll be honest with you, mister Cooper... I've been in the thieving business for a long time, and I made more than enough money to retire." Pryce stated. "Although, I tried it, but I found it rather...boring. Besides, thieving is what I know best. Why would I give up on something that gives me so much joy?"

"I can understand that." Vance replied, giving Pryce a little respect for his age. "Though, there are reasons why someone at your age should retire. My Dad did when he married and had me and my little sister. He does say that he misses the old times, but he wouldn't miss out on raising us for anything."

"Respectable, but still foolish." Pryce replied with a tone of digust about the fact of having children. "Why would any great thief like your father give up such a great thing like this? Having kids was a mistake. Why have them when you can have everything? Why throw away all the riches in the world just for love? It makes me sick just thinking about it."

"You just love to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Vance replied, getting a bit angry after what Pryce said about his father.

"It's better than other things I have to listen to sometimes." Pryce stated in response, but then he got serious again. "But, I am a busy man, so perhaps I should wrap this up. Let's get back to business, shall we?"

Without saying another word, Vance ran and jumped up at Pryce, swining his cane again, but Pryce jumped up and dodged it, flying in the air again. When Vance landed back on the rooftop, Pryce came down at him with his sharp talons, but Vance was ready this time as he jumped to the side at the last second and sprang off the side of the rooftop entrance, sending himself towards Pryce and smacked him before he could pull up.

However, Pryce was able to regain balance as he growled in anger before descending down the building when Vance ran over to the edge, trying to find him. Then, Pryce came back up and flapped a gust of wind just when he passed him, blowing Vance back as the buzzard soared up high till he was out of sight for a moment, then came down fast, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Here I come, Cooper! HHHAAAAAAA!"

Just when Vance was blown back, he looked up and saw Pryce coming his way and quickled jumped out of the way in time as the buzzard made a quick turn and flew around the building, eyeing Vance and watched as the odd colored raccoon readied his cane for what was to come next.

"Take this, Cooper!" Pryce shouted as he came straight at Vance with his wings wide out to hit him no matter where he jumped.

However, Vance didn't jump away, but up instead, and at the right moment too, surprising Pryce as he turned up again, while Vance detached the hook on his cane and threw it out. Using his cane to swing it on the small chain, he sent it right towards Pryce in the opposite direction, and just when Pryce took his confused eyes off Vance, he looked ahead of him and saw the hook come right at him. "Uh oh..." he said as the hook knocked him right on the head, messing up his flight and made him crashe back on the building rooftop, rolling until he was near the edge, groaning a little in pain.

As Vance waited for Pryce to get back up, he retached the hook back on his cane and slowly approached the buzzard as he slowly got back up and shook his head, giving a glare at the odd colored raccoon, but then smirked and chuckled.

"Heheheheh... I gotta admit, you're pretty good with that cane, Cooper." Pryce commented as he turned his entire body towards Vance, who smirked.

"Why thank you." he thanked, showing off his cane a bit. "It's the perfect thing that fits me. You probably don't know this, but ever Cooper has something that's unique about them, mainly the moves they wrote in my Dad's book. Though I haven't developed one myself, I do have this specially made cane, and that's enough. My Dad has the original, but this one is mine and mine alone."

"I can understand that." Pryce replied. "One must always have something that represents their individuality, and I'm impressed that you actually knocked me out of the air like that. Very few have ever faced me and done that. You definitely live up to your Cooper name. Still, you haven't beaten me yet."

"I'm well aware of that." Vance replied as he got serious again. "Come on, old man!"

Upon saying those words, Vance charged right for Pryce as the buzzard prepared for another round with the odd colored raccoon. However, before Vance get any closer, a shot was fired somewhere nearby and explosion of electricty stopped him, blowing him back, but he managed to land on his feet, while Pryce was surprised by this, and so was Vance. They turned their heads towards a nearby seven story building and noticed a humanoid anthromorphic rabbit with a red and yellow colored pistol with a police badge logo on the sides of it that was just used to fire that electric shot.

"Freeze, criminals!" shouted the rabbit, sounding and lookined feminine too. She had light tanned skin with white around her mouth, a black tipped nose and black tips on the top of her rabbit ears and long blonde hair that reached halfway across her back. She wore a white tank top underneath a small short sleeved black police jacket with red lining on the sides, a black belt with a holster for her pistol, and long dark brown pants with black boots that had white laces to cover her feet. To top it all, she had scarlet red eyes. "Put your hands, and wings, up where I can see them!"

Seeing her though, Pryce growled in frustration. "Gah...! Interpol copper." he stated before calming down. "Guess that's my cue to skiddadle."

Without hesitation, Pryce located where the ruby was on the rooftop and quickly flew towards it, grabbing it with his talons and smirked towards Cooper before flying off again. "We'll finish this another time!" he exclaimed as he soared up into the air with Vance running towards him. "See ya around, Cooper! Hahahaha...!"

"Stop!" Vance shouted as he ran towards the edge of the rooftop, while the rabbit cop noticed Pryce leave and made a big leap, thanks to her rabbit jumping skills, and landed right on top of the buildboard Vance and Pryce fought on and fired her pistol at the buzzard, trying to shoot him down with electrical shots.

However, Pryce was too far and too evasive to be hit by any of them and laughed as he soared higher and higher into the night sky, fading away from Vance sight. The odd colored raccoon grit his teeth in frustration as he just stood there and watched Pryce escape with the ruby. After he was gone, he sighed and shook his head before gazing back at where he last saw Pryce with a serious expression again. "Pryce... Who is he?"

But before Vance could think anymore about Pryce, the rabbit cop jumped down and pointed her pistol at the odd colored raccoon, making him turn around and face her, seeing her serious and somewhat angry face.

"Hold it right there, Cooper." she commanded. "You're under arrest."

"Detective Scarlet Hop... Hey..." Vance greeted the rabbit cop, or in this case, Detective, named Scarlet with a smile and scratched his back with his cane. "Are you still mad at me for what happened back in Australia?"

"What do you think?" she asked back with a serious tone. "You still have to return the jewels you stole from the Nobaki tribe."

"Hey, to be fair, they weren't exactly the nices bunch." Vance stated. "In all honesty, they didn't really deserve those jewels."

"Doesn't matter." Scarlet replied. "You stole from them, as an officer of the law, it's my duty to make sure a criminal like you be thrown in jail for that sort of thing."

"Wow... You take your job very seriously, don't you?" Vance replied, trying to stay calm, but then noticed the pistol Scarlet held. "Say, isn't that a shock pistol?"

"Yes... You like it?" Scarlet asked with a small smirk grown on her face. "It's one of Interpol's finest weapons. A blast from this pistol carries enough voltage to shock criminals like you into submission. That said, you cen either come quietly, or I can just do what I told you what this thing can do."

"Come on... I didn't even steal anything." Vance stated as he pointed his cane towards where Pryce was last seen. "I was gonna steal that ruby from the new museum, but that buzzard got to it first. He's the one you should be after right now. Not me."

"I'll be putting that guy on file once I'm done here, but right now, you're the only criminal I see in front of me at the moment." Scarlet replied, holding her shock pistol up a little higher so its scope is right near her right eye. "Now I'll ask you this one more time... You gonna come quietly, or do I have to make you?

"Hmm... Tough question." Vance replied, scratching his chin with his cane. "How about... Neither."

Without hesitating, Vance ran towards the edge of the rooftop and jumped down to the next building, surprising Scarlet as she gave chase, firing her shock pistol. Fortunately, Vance moved fast enough to avoid being shot, but Scarlet was right on his tail.

* * *

A minute later, Vance was still running along the rooftops with Scarlet still giving chase, but she was on the other buildings across the street, firing at the odd colored raccoon. Using his Rail Walk and Ninja Spire Jump moves, Vance was able to avoid the shots quickly and kept moving, but thanks to Scarlet's high jumping skills for being a rabbit, jumping from one building to another was no problem for her.

Meanwhile, not too far from where they were, the Cooper Van was seen hurrying towards Vance's position, which was on the move. Barron was seen driving the Van with Nicole holding on to the front seats, trying to spot Vance. After a minute, Barron stopped the Van and spotted Vance on the rooftops ahead of them, running in a hurry with Scarlet still after him.

"There he is!" Barron exclaimed, but then noticed Scarlet was after him. "And it looks like Scarlet is chasing him again!"

"Seriously...!?" Nicole asked before letting out a loud sigh and shook her head at this. "Every time... She never gives up. Come on... Let's go help Vance out again."

"I'm way ahead of there, Nicole." Barron replied as he stepped on the gas hard and turned the wheel in the direction Vance and Scarlet went, hurrying to catch up with them before Scarlet corners Vance.

While his friends were on their way to him, Vance kept running as Scarlet continued firing one shot after another at him, becoming a little frustrated that none of her shots were making contact on the odd colored raccoon.

"Hold still, Cooper!" she exclaimed in anger. "You can't run from me forever!"

"You'd be surprised, Scarlet!" Vance shouted back, showing a smile on his face though, like he was enjoying this whole chase.

But when looked down, he spotted the Cooper Van and Nicole opened up the back doors to the Van and held on to the side while shouting up at Vance. "Vance...! Get in the Van...! Hurry!" she shouted, and doing what she said, Vance jumped off the building he ran across and did a move called a Rail Slide down some wet pipes into an alley and ran out into the streets.

Scarlet still gave chase, making her way down slowly while firing at Vance, while Vance ran onto the road and sprinted as fast as he could to get in the Cooper Van as Nicole reached her hand out to him. Then, thanks to Barron slowing the Van down enough, Vance was able to grab Nicole's hand and she pulled him inside.

"Phew... Thanks, Nicole." Vance thanked, giving a smile at his friend, who smiled up at him since she was about a foot shorter than him.

"No problem." she replied as they closed the doors to the back of Van as Barron increased speed, while Scarlet continued firing her pistol at them.

"Hold on tight, guys!" Barron exclaimed as he turned around a corner and punched the gas to make a fast getaway.

When Scarlet came around the corner, she grit her teeth in frustration as she watched the Cooper Van get away, being too fast for her to catch up with. "Darn you, Cooper." she said to herself, shaking her head. "One of these days you're gonna slip up, and when you do, I'll be there to put a nice fresh pair of cuffs on you."

* * *

 _ **-The Cooper Van, Paris, France, Night Time-**_

After escaping Scarlet, Barron sighed in relief before smiling at Vance through the mirror to look in the back. "That was quite the close call there again, buddy."

"It was, but thanks to your driving, we gave Scarlet the slip again." Vance stated with a smile.

"It was nothing." Barron replied, grinning as he returned his eyes to the road ahead of him.

"I still can't believe she's still after you." Nicole stated, sitting in her chair, shaking her head with a somewhat angered expression. "One of these days, she's gonna get what's coming to her. She's a real..."

"Whoa, Nicole... Language." Vance interuppted, stopping Nicole from saying something bad about Scarlet.

"You're right... Sorry." she apologized as she took a deep breath, then grew a worried look. "Though, that weird buzzard guy that showed up on camera earlier worries me. He wasn't even detected on the security monitors."

"Yeah..." Barron replied, a bit worried about that too. "Who was that bird guy anyway?"

Crossing his arms, Vance gave a serious look at his friends. "That guy calls himself Pryce." he answered as he turned his eyes up at the road ahead, thinking about all the things Pryce had told him during their fight. "And as to who is... That's what I'm gonna find out."

* * *

 _Vance Cooper_

 _"Once again my friends and I managed to give good old Detective Scarlet Hop the slip. I gotta admit though, she's very presistant when it comes to me. I kinda like that about her. She makes things interesting. Though, that Pryce was very mysterious. I find it odd how he knew so much about me, but then again, he did say he did he research. Not to mention he's an old thief, so he probably would know a thing or two about my family. Speaking of my family... You probably already guessed this, but I'm from a well known family of thieves called the Cooper Clan."  
_

 _"As far back as I can recall, my family was well known for having some of the most greatest thieves around. My father, Sly Cooper, was one of those great thieves. He taught me everything about our family history and all about his adventures with Uncle Murray and Uncle Bentley. Hearing their stories made me want to be, to me, what he was: a master thief. Of course, it wasn't easy at first when I was a kid, since my mother was once a police officer, so that was an argument that me and my little sister, Sarah Cooper, heard over and over again. Speaking of my little sister... I wonder how she's doing? Mom and Dad too for that matter. I'll have to call them later and find out."_

 _"Though I inherited the Cooper Clan's greatest treasure: the Thievius Raccoonus, the book that details everything about our family thieving reputation and skills, becoming a master thief like my father was still tough thanks to my mother. Back when I was a kid, that dream seemed hopeless at first. That changed though when I met my friends Nicole and Barron. Those two have always stuck by me since we were ten and when I told them about my family's legacy, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it was like they were onboard with it all. Maybe it's because we were just kids at the time, so we didn't know better, but over the years, we tried our luck in thieving here and there. Back then, we did only little things here and there, but as we got older and grew in our skills and confidence, we were able to pull off much bigger jobs left and right. Ever since then, after graduating from High School, we stayed in the thieving business, and though my mother doesn't like it, she eventually approved after showing her all the evidence that I had the potential of being a great master thief, and it's all because of my friends."_

 _"Nicole was always the genius of the group. She's a planner, a hacker, a strategist, a mistress of mathmatics, and actually quite the skilled marksman. Barron was the muscle of the group. Even when he was kid, he possessed above average strength for his young age and it's thanks to him our earlier work went smoothly, along with Nicole. I didn't have very many friends because of my odd color, but those two stuck by me and they turned out to be the only friends I needed. I wouldn't trade them for the world."_

 _"Years after we came out of High School, and with my mother's approval, we set out for bigger thieving jobs around the world and we took the name my father and his friends back in their day: The Cooper Gang, or in this case, the New Cooper Gang. With our skills combined, like my father and his friends before us, we're aiming to be the best group of thieves around. And like my father before me, I'm gonna one day become the next master thief. Who knows... I might be even better than him. That's a big maybe."  
_

 _"In all honesty, I don't know what's gonna happen in my future, but I know one thing's for sure... With my friends and family legacy by my side... It's gonna be fun."_

 ** _Vance Cooper, the Next Master Thief_**

* * *

 ** _And so ends the second part of the prologue! I hope you all enjoyed it. To be honest, I was gonna get this up sooner, but I got really busy after finishing the first part, so I apologized if this one took a little time to get up. Either way, I managed to get this up. Although, just a forewarning, from here on out, now that the prologue is done, the real stuff begins, so updating may take a little longer, but I'll try my best to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. :)_**

 ** _Anyway, I see we have the good old fashion Sly Cooper cop and robber things going on here. Vance Cooper and Scarlet Hop are gonna be going at it from time to time, just like good old Sly Cooper and Carmelita Fox. What can I say...? It's not a Sly Cooper story without this sort of thing, am I right? XD_**

 ** _Okay, I truly don't have much to say anymore. So, I'm just gonna let you all go for now. Stay tune to find out what adventures'll happen soon. Trust me when I say that the real story is about to begin. Until next time, this is Neo saying farewell and lock your doors and windows at night, everyone. ;)_**


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